Lemon Chiffon Cake Day – March 29th

March 29th – Lemon Chiffon Cake Day

Lemon Chiffon Cake Day celebrates the love of the deliciously light lemon cake that was invented by Harry Baker in 1927. After keeping the recipe a closely-guarded secret for over twenty years, he eventually sold the recipe to Betty Crocker in 1947, after which the packet-mix became the best-selling favourite that is known and loved across the world today.

According to General Mills, the Chiffon Cake, invented in 1927, was the first new cake to come along in 100 years. (One might dispute that—the brownie debuted within 30 years prior to it and digging through culinary history will produce more). The secret of this light and fluffy cake is that the egg whites are beaten separately from the yolks, and it uses vegetable oil instead of butter or conventional shortening. It was invented by the aptly named Harry Baker, a Los Angeles insurance agent, who sold the cakes to the Brown Derby restaurant and to Hollywood stars.

In 1947, Baker sold the recipe to General Mills, and it created a sensation when it was published in the May, 1948 issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. The difference between a chiffon cake and a sponge cake is that a chiffon cake contains oil; most sponge cakes contain no fat.